7 Day Georgia Itinerary: Tbilisi, Kazbegi, and Kakheti Wine Country
A week-long route through Tbilisi's Old Town, the Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi, and Kakheti's wine villages — with sourced hours, transit times, approximate costs, and what to verify before you fly.
By Mariam K., Fortrip's Caucasus-region editor, who has driven the Georgian Military Highway in both January ice and August heat and tracked three Kakheti harvests.
This 7 day Georgia itinerary is built for travelers who want one mountain overnight, one wine region overnight, and enough slack to not treat Tbilisi like a layover. The pace is moderate — two driving days, two walking-heavy days, and two slower base days in Stepantsminda and Sighnaghi. You'll sleep in three places: Tbilisi, Stepantsminda, and Sighnaghi or Telavi, which means packing a bag you can actually carry up a guesthouse staircase twice. The trade-off is Batumi and Svaneti: neither fits inside seven days without gutting Kakheti, so this plan assumes you're saving the Black Sea coast and the high Svaneti villages for a separate trip.
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Fits: first-time visitors with exactly a week who want a mountain night, a wine-country night, and real time in Tbilisi rather than a city they just fly through.
Doesn't fit: anyone wanting Batumi or Svaneti on the same trip, or travelers who'd rather stay in one base and day-trip everything — this route moves three times.
If you want to stress-test this route against your own dates, run it through our AI trip planner before booking anything non-refundable, or browse other Caucasus-region itineraries if seven days isn't your window.
Hours, fortress access, and marshrutka fares below come from the official and tourism-board pages linked inline, but Georgia adjusts these seasonally — winter closures at altitude, revised fares, shifted departure times. Check each one again within a few weeks of your trip rather than trusting any single page, this one included, and treat Georgia's official tourism portal (georgia.travel) as a second check alongside the sources cited here.
None of the figures below come with a published, dated rate card — treat them as working ranges and get a live quote before you commit a budget to them.
Item
Approx. range
Source / where to verify
Private driver, full-day Tbilisi–Kazbegi round trip with stops
GEL 250–400, a rough ballpark
Ask a licensed operator or your guesthouse host before booking
museum.ge is the authoritative source — check current pricing there
Kazbegi National Park site fees (Gveleti and others)
Not stated in the source used for ascent and distance figures
apa.gov.ge, the Agency of Protected Areas, publishes current rates for its sites
Tsinandali Estate museum and cellar entrance
Not covered in the research used here
Check the estate's official site directly before you plan the day around a figure
Before You Go: Entry Rules and the New Insurance Requirement
US, UK, and EU citizens get visa-free entry to Georgia for up to 365 days (US State Department).
As of January 1, 2026, every tourist must carry proof of health and accident insurance covering at least 30,000 GEL for the full length of stay (US State Department).
Some airlines now check for this coverage at check-in, so carry a printed or downloaded policy document, not just a confirmation email sitting in your inbox.
Buy coverage before departure rather than planning to sort it out in Tbilisi — enforcement is reportedly inconsistent between land borders and the airport, so don't assume either will be lenient.
Land, drop your bag in Abanotubani, and walk the Old Town streets below Narikala Fortress before the afternoon heat or the tour groups build.
Narikala Fortress: free entry, open 9:00–19:00 daily (Georgian Holidays) — check this hasn't shifted for the season.
Skip the upper fort's stairs, which the same source flags as degraded and not worth the risk for the extra height on the view.
Evening: book a private room at an Abanotubani bathhouse rather than the communal option — it costs more (see cost table above) but lets you set your own schedule after a travel day.
Walk back through the old bridge area at night, when the bathhouse domes and riverside lighting are easiest to photograph without a crowd in the frame.
Day 2 — Mtskheta and Tbilisi: Jvari Monastery and the National Museum
Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral are both free to enter; Mtskheta is 20–30 minutes from Tbilisi by taxi or marshrutka.
Georgian National Museum (Simon Janashia Museum), Rustaveli Avenue: open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00, last admission 17:30, closed Mondays and public holidays (museum.ge). Current ticket pricing isn't listed on that hours page — check it directly on the same site before you go.
Don't schedule this for a Monday; check your dates against the closure list before you commit to this exact day order.
If a closure forces a swap, spend the afternoon on Rustaveli Avenue or in Vake Park instead.
Buy your Kazbegi transport ticket or confirm a private driver today — Didube marshrutkas to Stepantsminda reportedly fill a day ahead in summer.
Day 3 — Georgian Military Highway: Tbilisi to Stepantsminda
Distance: roughly 157 km, climbing the Jvari Pass at 2,379 m (visit-tbilisi.com).
Private car: 2.5–3 hours on the same route guide; marshrutka from Didube runs closer to 3–3.5 hours.
Marshrutkas run point to point and skip Ananuri Fortress and the Gudauri viewpoint entirely — book a private driver or shared taxi if you want either stop.
Ananuri Fortress sits on the Aragvi reservoir about an hour out of Tbilisi and is worth 30–45 minutes on the ground; the Gudauri viewpoint is a quick photo stop just before the pass.
A private driver for this leg runs roughly GEL 250–400 for the car, a rough ballpark — see the cost table above, and get a firm quote before booking.
Check into Stepantsminda (1,740 m, churchestovisit.com) by late afternoon and pack a layer you didn't think you'd need — it runs noticeably cooler than Tbilisi even in summer.
Day 4 — Kazbegi: Gergeti Trinity Church and Gveleti Waterfalls
Gergeti Trinity Church sits at 2,170 m, roughly 430 m of ascent above Stepantsminda's 1,740 m (churchestovisit.com). The same source reports the access road is now sealed asphalt, so a 4x4 is no longer required — older advice saying otherwise is outdated — but cross-check winter road conditions at georgia.travel before you commit to driving yourself.
Walking up takes 60–75 minutes on that ascent, with the descent closer to 90 minutes, per the same guide. Shared 4x4s still run from the main square if you'd rather save your legs for photos at the top.
That same guide puts Mount Kazbek's summit visible from the church on roughly half of all days, with cloud typically building through the morning — leave at first light if a clear summit shot matters to you, and treat the fraction as one site's estimate rather than a verified statistic.
Afternoon: walk to Gveleti Waterfalls; the Agency of Protected Areas requires a mandatory 700 m on foot after you leave the car (apa.gov.ge), so budget at least 90 minutes round trip with photo stops.
Current entrance fees for Kazbegi National Park sites are published by the same Agency of Protected Areas page — check rates there before you go rather than budgeting against a guess.
If you're deciding whether this overnight earns its place against a shorter Tbilisi stay, the itinerary validator is a faster way to test that trade-off than rereading this page twice.
Day 5 — Stepantsminda to Kakheti: Sighnaghi and Bodbe Monastery
Retrace the Georgian Military Highway back toward Tbilisi, then continue east into Kakheti rather than stopping in the capital — a private driver can run this as one long transfer.
Sighnaghi is about 115 km from Tbilisi; marshrutkas run six times daily each way from Samgori/Navtlughi for 15 GEL (visitsighnaghi.com) — check the station board on the day, since fares shift.
This schedule limits same-day return flexibility if you arrive in Sighnaghi late in the afternoon.
Walk the hilltop town's walls and vineyard views, then visit Bodbe Monastery, a 10-minute taxi or walk outside town.
Stay overnight in Sighnaghi — guesthouse doubles run roughly GEL 80–150/night (see cost table above; get a current rate before booking) — rather than rushing back; the town's evening light over the Alazani Valley is most of the reason people add Kakheti to this route.
Day 6 — Kakheti Wine Route: Telavi, Tsinandali, Alaverdi, and Gremi
Kakheti produces the bulk of Georgia's grapes, and qvevri winemaking is widely cited at roughly 8,000 years old — treat that figure as a repeated regional claim rather than a dated archaeological dataset; for a sourced figure, check the National Wine Agency of Georgia's published material rather than a guesthouse brochure.
If self-driving, assign a non-drinking driver before you start the day; Georgian police enforce a near-zero blood alcohol limit, and this is not a region to test it in.
Visit Tsinandali Estate for its 19th-century manor and cellar, then Alaverdi Cathedral and the Gremi fortress-church complex, spacing tastings between the two historical stops rather than stacking them back to back.
A private driver for this full loop runs roughly GEL 200–350 for the day — a rough ballpark; get a current quote locally in Telavi or Sighnaghi.
Tsinandali Estate publishes its own museum and cellar pricing on its official site; check it there rather than building a budget around a figure this guide can't confirm.
Base yourself in Telavi for the night if you want a shorter final drive back to Tbilisi the next morning.
Choosing Your Route Back: Gombori Pass or the Sagarejo Highway
Sagarejo route: longer in distance, more reliable outside summer, and the route marshrutkas use.
Gombori Pass: shorter and more scenic but weather-sensitive — fog and rain can make the switchbacks unpleasant; check conditions before committing if you're self-driving.
Same-day flight back to Tbilisi: take Sagarejo. Slack in the schedule and clear weather: Gombori is the better drive.
Day 7 — Return to Tbilisi: Last Wander and Departure
Drive or marshrutka back to Tbilisi, roughly 1.5–2 hours from Telavi.
Spend the morning at the Dry Bridge Market near the Mtkvari riverbank — a flea market of Soviet-era antiques, carpets, and jewelry; hours shift by vendor and season, so check locally rather than planning around a fixed schedule.
Alternatively, return to a neighborhood you skipped on Day 1, or walk Rustaveli Avenue one more time.
Before heading to the airport, confirm your insurance document (see the January 2026 rule above) is accessible on your phone or printed, and re-check the official advisory pages if requirements changed between booking and flying.
If your flight is in the evening, use the extra hours for Abanotubani souvenir shopping or a last coffee near Freedom Square rather than cramming in a new neighborhood you won't have time to actually see.
Getting Around Without a Car
Marshrutkas from Didube station cover Tbilisi–Stepantsminda; marshrutkas from Samgori/Navtlughi cover Tbilisi–Sighnaghi, six departures a day each way.
Private drivers cost more but are the only practical way to include Ananuri Fortress and the Gudauri viewpoints on the Kazbegi leg, since marshrutkas bypass both entirely.
For Kakheti, a hired driver for the day is more practical than public transport if you plan to visit Telavi, Tsinandali, Alaverdi, and Gremi in one day, since these sites aren't connected by regular marshrutka routes.
FAQ
Do I need a 4x4 for Kazbegi?
No. The access road up to Gergeti Trinity Church is now sealed asphalt, so an ordinary car or taxi can usually manage it (churchestovisit.com). Shared 4x4s still run from Stepantsminda's main square if you'd rather skip the 60–75 minute walk up.
How much does a private driver cost per day in Georgia?
There's no single published rate card we could verify. Day rates for Tbilisi–Kazbegi or the Kakheti wine loop commonly run GEL 200–400 depending on distance, season, and number of stops — get a quote from a licensed operator or your guesthouse host before booking.
Do I need travel insurance to enter Georgia in 2026?
Yes. As of January 1, 2026, all tourists must carry proof of health and accident insurance covering at least 30,000 GEL for the full length of stay (US State Department). Carry a printed or downloaded copy, since some airlines now check for it at check-in.
Is Sighnaghi worth an overnight stay, or just a day trip from Tbilisi?
Overnight if you can manage it. Bodbe Monastery and the town walls take half a day on their own, and the evening light over the Alazani Valley is the main reason this stop earns a place on a week-long route. A day trip only works cleanly if the six-times-daily marshrutka schedule (visitsighnaghi.com) lines up with your return.
How to Adjust This Itinerary
Cut a day by treating Kazbegi as a long day trip from Tbilisi instead of overnighting in Stepantsminda — you'll lose the early-morning clear-sky chance at Mount Kazbek, but gain a day for Kakheti or Tbilisi. Swap Day 5's overnight in Sighnaghi for a single long day trip from Tbilisi if the six-times-daily marshrutka schedule lines up with your flight times, though this compresses the wine tasting significantly.
Extending to Batumi needs at least 3 extra days given the 6–7 hour drive or train each way from Tbilisi; it doesn't fit inside a 7-day frame without cutting Kakheti. Extending to Svaneti is a bigger ask still — Mestia runs 8–9 hours from Tbilisi by road — and is better treated as its own trip than an add-on here. If you only have 5 days, cut Kakheti and keep Tbilisi plus Kazbegi; if you have 9–10 days, add Svaneti rather than Batumi, since the mountain scenery pairs better thematically with the Kazbegi leg.
If you want to sanity-check any of these swaps against your actual dates, run the final draft through our itinerary validator before you lock in hotels.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a 4x4 for Kazbegi?+
No. The access road up to Gergeti Trinity Church is now sealed asphalt, so an ordinary car or taxi can usually manage it, according to churchestovisit.com. Shared 4x4s still run from Stepantsminda's main square if you'd rather skip the 60–75 minute walk up.
How much does a private driver cost per day in Georgia?+
There's no single published rate card we could verify. Day rates for Tbilisi–Kazbegi or the Kakheti wine loop commonly run GEL 200–400 depending on distance, season, and number of stops — get a quote from a licensed operator or your guesthouse host before booking.
Do I need travel insurance to enter Georgia in 2026?+
Yes. As of January 1, 2026, all tourists must carry proof of health and accident insurance covering at least 30,000 GEL for the full length of stay, per the US State Department. Carry a printed or downloaded copy, since some airlines now check for it at check-in.
Is Sighnaghi worth an overnight stay, or just a day trip from Tbilisi?+
Overnight if you can manage it. Bodbe Monastery and the town walls take half a day on their own, and the evening light over the Alazani Valley is the main reason this stop earns a place on a week-long route. A day trip only works cleanly if the six-times-daily marshrutka schedule lines up with your return.
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